Remains of the Day: With the greatest of ease

High-tech devices meet low-tech smuggling methods in China, consumers won't be replaying iTunes movies anytime soon, and how do Apple's computers boot up? Not so fast, says one company. The remainders for Monday, August 8, 2011 don't drop their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship.

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High-tech devices meet low-tech smuggling methods in China, consumers won't be replaying iTunes movies anytime soon, and how do Apple's computers boot up? Not so fast, says one company. The remainders for Monday, August 8, 2011 don't drop their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial starship.

Smuggling of any sort can be dangerous business, what with customs agents and lengthy prison terms, but some folks in China have come up with a creative new solution: a very long zipline. Because prices are often lower in Hong Kong than in mainland China, these enterprising folks shot a zipline across the river separating the former British colony from the city of Shenzhen, then sent iPads and iPhones across in bags during the night. However, law enforcement personnel cracked the scheme, as it turns out that they too had attended summer camp.

If you were holding your breath for the imminent announcement of Apple's supposed "Replay" service, dear god, let it out: It may be a while before the rumored feature shows up--if it ever does. According to CNet, at least four of the big six movie studios have yet to sign on. And something tells me that Apple wouldn't be too psyched about announcing a service whose marquee launch title is Transmorphers.

Though it only launched in the U.S. last month, Spotify has apparently already racked up 1.4 million users stateside. Of those, 175,000 have handed over their hard-earned money to the company, a conversion rate of around 12.5 percent. Not too shabby, but according to my local hipster source, what's totally in these days is listening to pure static.

What, you thought we could go a single day without a news item from the patent arena? Think again. Florida-based Operating Systems Solutions--who, in all likelihood, have never produced a single operating system solution ever--are suing Apple over OS X's fast-booting feature. Operating Systems Solutions acquired the patent from LG Electronics, who clearly in turn acquired it from me, because I totally had the idea of a computer that turns on quickly years ago.

Product News:

Google+ 1.0.1.1966 - The latest update to the iOS client for Google's social-networking service brings settings for Huddle, aggregated notifications for when you're added to a circle, performance and stability enhancements, and support for the iPod touch and iPad (though there's no native interface for the latter). Free.

Stuf 2 - Version 2 of The Escapers' clipboard enhancement utility for Mac OS X has been rewritten for Lion and Windows 7. Users can now copy and paste items between Macs and Windows PCs over a network. $17 for each platform; upgrade from Stuf 1 for free.